A party

"That'll be a hundred coins, sir!"

"I'll put a hundred more if you come with me, sweety…"

"Thanks, but I'm fifteen!"

"Hehe… Wait, wha-"

"Give it up, man. I've done the math multiple times. It makes no sense."

The dejected drunkard left the coins he owed and moved on with his life. However, he would often think back to that day, that bar and that seductive waitress and murmur to himself… 'Fifteen?'.

The waitress danced around the bar carrying out food and drinks. From time to time, she would kick the chair where a fat old man sat and shout:

"Kuscah! Stop wasting our money and help me! Aren't we partners?"

"Sure. Just one last trip to the bottom of this jug and I'm all yours." The priest giggled before drowning himself in some good ale. The waitress frowned and pulled his ear with the intent of tearing it off. "Ow, ow, ow! Yeah, yeah! Okay! I'll work, alright!"

"And what was that math about?"

"It's simple, really. When you add a big boob plus another big boob, you don't get a fifteen-year old girl. It just… doesn't work that way." The priest gestured, pointing at each mathematical element as he spoke. Many drunk clients of the tavern nodded in silent agreement, for the old man spoke the truth.

"I'll do some math for you. A bottomless stomach plus food equals… no money! If we want to hire a swordsman and get ourselves to the next city, we better start saving right this moment, so no more sweets for you!"

"No! Please, have mercy, Grace! Our task is doomed to fail if I don't eat! We don't even know whether the Maker exists or not!"

"Nobody does, which is precisely why we must go! The world is ending and no one is doing anything to prevent it!"

"But-"

"No buts! And quit being pathetic! You're not getting any ladies' attention like that!"

The clients nodded, for the girl spoke the truth as well. However, the mention of the Maker earned them more than one weird look. Whispers followed. The people who still tried to do math with Grace's mature figure decided to do something else with their time. Whatever those two were trying to accomplish, it probably wasn't worth their time.

When notice of this issue reached the innkeeper's ears, the burly man studied his two new employees with a stern expression.

The youngest employee wore a long greenish black dress with big flower patterns on the skirt. The dress exposed quite a generous amount of her chest with a diamond-shaped red edge outlined by white dots. The baggy shoulders and the sleeves had darker lines disappearing into her grey gloves, a style not typical of the nearing markets. Around her slim neck, she carried a thin dark cloth with purple tips. She tied her long black hair into pigtails with a dark lace that also spread her longer fringes to the sides. Her perked up blue eyes portrayed the young vitality of a girl who didn't know when to give up. Despite her appearance, she was stronger than she looked, although her heels made her look older that she really was. Fif… freaking… teen… If the neighborhood found out he employed a girl that young, he could get in trouble.

Her companion was way older in comparison, around his fifties. He wore a fur cape of wide neck and a tight vest that accentuated his big beer belly. He had a skirt of checkered pink, black and white plates. His trousers had the same pattern as his sleeves: monochromatic vertical stripes. On his blond head, he had a headband that could had been purposed to bear an eyepatch in the past, but judging from his exposed bad eye, that was a thing of the past. Although he kept his hair short, he had longer locks that were tied to blue feathers. His neat and discreet beard gave the man charm, which he used quite often to get cozy with some female clients… whenever he wasn't drunk, eating like a beast or too tired due to his age.

Later, the tavern owner checked the backroom where those two left their possessions when they arrived. An odd-looking greenish grey bow, a staff with a sand hourglass and a white shield. Those two were adventurers.

When the day ended, he threw them a big purse filled with coins.

"Boss, this is more than the amount we agreed on." Grace noticed.

"You're fired."

"What? Why?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" The owner grumbled as the girl pinned him into a wall. "Y-You're looking for the Maker. I'm not looking for trouble, so you must go elsewhere."

"What does that have to do with anything?! We're trying to help everyone! How exactly are we going to bring you any trouble?!"

"Grace, leave the man be. You've lived your whole life in the forest, so you wouldn't understand the worries of a city dweller."

The huntress released the innkeeper and clenched her fists. Kuscah picked the purse along with their belongings and opened the exit. It was sad to leave such a nice workplace, though. They were offered a room to spend the cold nights and even breakfast each dawn. Few places would equal such a sweet deal for a pair of travelling adventurers.

"Thanks for everything, boss. I'll come visit once we save the world." The priest waved over his head. Grace drilled the traitorous innkeeper one last furious stare before following her companion.

The teenybopper slapped some water from the plaza's fountain on her face and let her hair loose, allowing the blowing wind to comb it for her. The old priest mercilessly drowned their water bottles in the fountain, dreadful bubbles popping on the surface.

"The world is slowly falling apart… The forests I used to know… they are no longer the same. Rifts keep opening everywhere, spewing magma and burning the beautiful green landscapes… The animals are disoriented due to the fast-changing weather, ruining their life cycles and threatening to wipe out endangered species. Why does nobody care…?"

Kuscah's eye glittered with sorrow and a sigh escaped his mouth.

"I have bad news for you, busty child: people have no use for 'care' once they give up. Most of them have accepted their fate and await the fast approaching doom. They no longer have the strength to fight for themselves, much less for some forests they don't love."

"Why are you doing this, then?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"When I found you drinking in that junkyard with a bunch of vagabonds, I asked for help finding the Maker, but only you showed genuine interest. A priest like you can't be too bothered to die and pass on to the afterlife, and you surely don't care for the forests the same way I do… So… why?"

Kuscah playfully pressed a finger onto her small nose and took seat on the fountain's stony edge. The red sky said goodbye to the twilight, welcoming the darker tones of the night.

"Life is too damn interesting to be given up so easily. I feel sorry you youngsters for having to tackle the blunt of the end of times, so I wish to purchase you some more time with the little I may have left. Meanwhile, I want to meet many companions and have a blast of an adventure! That is my reason."

Grace rose a brow.

"You forgot the 'eating every single piece of food and drink every last drop of wine in the world' thing. Just how gluttonous can a person be? Don't you get sick from eating so much?"

"My body may age and grew in size with each passing day, but my love for tasty pleasures can never be diminished! I'll stop the end of the world just so that I can eat and drink in peace until the last of my days!"

"Such a sinful priest… At least, you're honest to your desires, like an animal. I like that."

The priest pressed his knees forward and stood up. Sometime, he would find the chance to lecture her with how dangerous words can be. Beauty like hers often attracts unwanted attention of the worst kind. In this shattering planet, those wretched souls were frequent. Kuscah approached Grace and lent her his cape.

"And you, miss forest dweller, should at least cover yourself some more. It's going to be cold tonight."

"Kuscah…" The girl softened.

"Besides! You can't just go around being a teenybopper with bazoongas like those! You'll send people to jail!"

"Ugh. When will you stop complaining about my boobs?"

"When you become the age you look! Did your father forget to teach you that men are wolves?"

"No pack of wolves could ever hope to defeat me, so that's fine." Grace grinned with confidence. The priest didn't see that retort coming and shrugged.

"Fair's fair."

"Now quit goofing around and find us some new jobs! If we want to leave the city safely, we need another fighter in our party."

"Why do we need the money, though? Couldn't we just try our luck with words?

"I don't want to remain in this town eternally, so we're saving up money so that we can rely on Plan B: purchasing a mercenary's services."

"You've given this a lot of thought, huh?"

"Unless you happen to be a decent healer AND a great warrior, we will need help to defeat our enemies."

Kuscah clapped her back approvingly.

"You have so much initiative you might end up saving the world, girl! Fine! Leave the job-hunting to a pro beggar like me! I know of another tavern we could try our luck. Many mercenaries gather there, so we could as well check some wares."

"Lead the way, friend!"

The dark veil of night spread through the land. The lamps of the town lit the streets. The residences shut their windows one after the other. Mistrust was a common factor in those trying times. However, even if the world ends, taverns will probably still be around to receive travelers of every kind. While humans were the usual species, some lizardfolk and beastfolk found their way to that faraway town.

In that tavern, they drunk, they shared and they laughed without worry.

However, amidst that chorus of noises and screams, a solitary flower contemplated her jug of beer. The surface of the ale reflected a tough-looking serious woman of pretty features. Her blond hair was apparently short, but a long braid hid most of it for fighting's sake. Each of her limbs was armored with purple heavy gauntlets or metal boots. While one could expect similar armor for the rest of this mercenary's gear, the woman was far more daring. On her waist, a long dark brown skirt of frilled ends revealed the side of her leg. On her chest, a single piece of plated bra revealed the curves of her womanly figure, with a cross-shaped ornament hanging below the piece. On her shoulders, a small furry cape that failed to wrap up her exposed and well-built abdomen. On her ears, triangle pendants hung with pink and blue bits.

Many people stared at her from the distance, yet no one dared to approach her. Her purple eyes stole many a person's heart, but her serious expression and dark presence kept them at bay.

Her name was Bahl, the dark-duelist.

Little was known of such a woman. She rarely talked about herself with anyone. Suddenly, a couple of strangers surrounded her.

"Hey there, miss. Mind if we tag along?"

"You look strong!"

Bahl batted her inexpressive eyes. The priest and the young huntress were new faces. By the looks of them, they could be a pair of adventurers in need of a sword. Silently, she allowed their presence and heard their story as she showed no sign of interest in that Maker of theirs.

The world's end had nothing to do with her. She was a mercenary. If they wanted to hire her, they better have the money. No words could ever dissuade her, otherwise.

"It breaks my heart to know that the beautiful forests are going away soon." The teenybopper sighed, chugging down some of her drink. "The trees, the prey, the flowers, the rive-"

"What did you just say?"

For Kuscah and Grace, that was the first time the mercenary unsealed her glossy lips. The other clients just pushed them away when they mentioned their objectives, but since the blond beauty didn't seem to care, they decided to hang around for a while and grumble their complaints as they had dinner.

"Um… You do know what the end means, right? People will die, cities will perish… the whole apocalypse deal." The priest ventured.

"I don't care about that, old man. What did you say about the flowers?" Bahl questioned the huntress.

Grace trembled from the emotion. Did she, perhaps, find a kindred soul who cared for nature?

"The beauty of the wildflowers will fade away as the magma burns the earth. The romantic lightshow of the sun refracting on their petals will be a thing of the past. Only a despairing future of bland colors and doom awaits. That is why I want to find the Maker. I wish for the world to continue! And I will triumph! Even if I have to drag Kuscah's heavy ass all over the world!"

"Cheers to that!" The man laughed, thrilled to have a companion as optimistic as him.

"We are looking for teammates who are willing to join our cause, but so far everyone has pushed us away. Even at the end of the world, people will only care about money, huh?"

"To many, money is akin to a deity. If the Maker could make them rich, entire armies would arise to achieve this singular purpose. Oh! That reminds me! What do you call fake spaghetti?"

"Oh, no. He's reached that point again where he won't stop telling corny jokes…"

"An im-pasta!"

Grace didn't get it. Spaghetti was foreign to her before that night, so most jokes flew over her head. At least, she enjoyed her companions undying good mood, even if she couldn't laugh to his jokes. Kuscah moved elsewhere to share his jokes with fellow drunkards, leaving the ladies on their own.

Grace extended her arms over the counter and rested on it. From there, she peeked towards the mercenary. "Say, why don't you help us?"

"Are you going to hire me?"

"We're dirt poor! I tried saving up some money so that I could hire someone like you, but we get kicked out whenever somebody finds out what our goals are. If things weren't bad enough, people are so scared to acknowledge the current state of the world that they punish anyone who reminds them. It's sickening!"

"Why do you still try to save them?"

"That's the thing. I'm not trying to save them. Cities are not my thing. All I want is to protect the forests I love, at any cost. Me saving those losers is just a side-effect." Grace groaned apathetically.

Those people weren't actively trying to pursue their own salvation, so why should Grace bring them any? If she could ask the Maker to save only the forests, she may just do that.

She looked at Bahl again. "Don't you have anything you'd like to protect? Family, friends… or something in that lines?"

The blond woman frowned slightly and shook her head. However, her lips opened.

"Maybe…"

"Maybe?"

"…forget it."

"What? You're just going to leave the honey on my lips and stop there? Keep going! Please, tell me!" The girl begged, clinging to her armored arm.

"There may… be… some things… Things I wish to protect."

"Really? You must join us in that case! We'll find the Maker and earn salvation!"

"Okay."

"As if! Haha, I'm sorry if I'm being too pushy… It's just that I'm a bit at the end of my rope here, so I- wait, what?"

"Okay. I'll join your party."

Grace chugged down the last of her drink and shouted her victory. When she tried to hug her new companion and express her gratitude, however, Bahl interjected a hand.

"I'll lend you my strength. While that may make us partners, we are not friends, so I'd appreciate it if you could keep your affection away from me."

"Eeeh? Why?"

"Because I do not trust you."

Grace shrugged and smirked.

"Fine. I'll just have to earn your trust. For the time being, welcome aboard! My name's Grace. That old priest over is Kuscah. What's your name, partner?"

The mercenary grabbed her drink and downed it in one go.

"Bahl."